Oat Bran

It’s no secret that extra lean ground turkey can be a little dry and tough once it’s cooked up. So the challenge with this recipe was to find a way to keep these meatballs lean without sacrificing moisture, tenderness, and taste.

And my friends, I’m happy to report, “Mission Accomplished”!

Here are my three ‘not-so-secret’ tips for moist and tender,extra-lean meatballs:

Minced mushrooms. Mushrooms are packed with water and they release their moisture as they cook which helps keep the meatballs moist and tender.

Ground flax seeds. Fat is not a bad thing. As a matter of fact having healthy fats in our diet is super important but some fats are better than others. Adding flax seed to the lean turkey is a great way to add in some healthy fats (omega-3’s) and cut back on the saturated fats that would come in a ground turkey with a higher fat content.

Simmer, simmer, simmer. This gives the veggies (ie. onions and mushrooms) time to cook and release their moisture and flavor into the meatballs making once again, a tender and moist meatball!

Do you guys have any tips for keeping lean cuts of meat tender and delicious? If so, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Directions:

In a large pot over medium heat, simmer a big pot of tomato sauce (you can either make home made or use store bought sauce - either works just fine). You will need about 8-10 cups of sauce (2-3 28 oz. cans of tomatoes if you are making your sauce).

In a large bowl combine turkey, garlic, onion, mushrooms, oat bran, flax seeds, Worcestershire, cheese, nutmeg, egg whites, spinach, salt and pepper. Work it together until everything is well combined. Smell it… maybe you want to give it a hit of red pepper flakes or a shake of Oregano… do what you like… make it yours☺.

Take about two tbsp. of meat mixture and form into a ball about the size of a golf ball you should have 18 meatballs when you're done. Once you form all of your meatballs, one-by-one drop them into the simmering sauce.

Apparently, when one becomes pregnant, while the body focuses on nourishing the little blueberry, other bodily systems can have the the tendency to slow down. Let’s just say I’ve been keeping the local bakeries in business lately buying bran muffins for breakfast and decided it was due time to get into the kitchen and whip up my own!

This is actually a recipe that my sister sent me. I’m not exactly sure where she got it but it was good. I of course added some minor changes of my own like using the white whole wheat flour, low fat buttermilk and adding the raisins. As for the topping, I borrowed that idea from Andrea over at Andrea’s Recipes. She has a recipe for Apple Cinnamon Crunch Muffins that look d’lishes and her crunchy, nutty topping is exactly what my Apple Oat BranMuffins needed!

These muffins are really simple to make (come to think of it, pretty much all muffins are really simple to make). I made them as soon as I woke up today and ate one (okay, fine… two) hot right out of the oven. The batter is pretty standard, so it’s really important that you add a big, fat heaping cup of diced apples to these muffins and don’t forget the raisins; these are the ingredients that really give the muffin all it’s flavor. So if you don’t have apples that taste great on their own, don’t bother making these guys… you really need a good, crisp, in season apple to pull this simple recipe off!

On another note, I think my husband and I are gonna try to shoot some videos tomorrow. I’m hoping to at least get one or two Turkey Day videos up… wish me luck;)!

In a small bowl combine buttermilk, egg whites and oil. Add to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened. Stir in diced apples and raisins.

Spray muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon about a quarter cup of batter into each muffin cup and then top each one with a teaspoon of crunchy topping. Pop in the oven for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

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Healthy eating made easy!

Hi, I’m Dani. I'm a Health, Wellness & Weight Loss Coach, Mom of two, and the Founder of Clean & Delicious®. I'll show you how to make healthy eating CRAZY-easy and insanely DELICIOUS! Learn more about me.